The invention relates to an analytic magazine with at least one analytic aid. Such analytic magazines with analytic aids are used, in particular, in the field of medical diagnostics in order to detect one or more analytes in a sample of a bodily fluid. In particular, such analytic magazines can be used in integrated analytic systems, which provide both a sample-taking function and the aforementioned function of detecting at least one analyte in a bodily fluid. In principle, other applications are also possible, for example applications outside the field of medical diagnostics. In the following text, the invention is substantially described with reference to detecting blood glucose, without restricting further possible applications.
Systems by means of which analytes can be detected in samples are known, in particular, from the field of medical diagnostics, but also from other fields in the natural sciences, medicine and technology. Within the scope of medical diagnostics, a detection such as this, for example of blood glucose, generally comprises the generation of a sample of bodily fluid, for example blood or interstitial fluid, followed by holding this sample and qualitative and/or quantitative analysis. To this end, use is generally made of one or more analytic aids, which can for example comprise a lancet and/or test elements, by means of which the sample can be generated and/or held and/or analyzed.
In the past, the integration of various system functions in particular has led to commercial solutions with replaceable magazines for the analytic aid, e.g. test-strip magazines, in such analytic systems, e.g. blood-glucose measurement systems. Typical exponents of this product group are the Accu-Chek Compact® and Ascensia Breeze systems, which represent commercially available systems. Typical associated magazines generally hold 17 or 10 test strips.
In the latest systems, different system functions are often combined in an integrated fashion, for example the system function of generating a sample (for example by perforating an area of the skin) and the system function of holding a sample and also, optionally, the system function of analyzing it. When designing more integrated systems, it may for example be possible to combine the step of obtaining blood with a test function. By way of example, so-called “microsamplers” are known for this purpose, and these can combine the function of a lancet and the function of transporting the sample, for example to a test element. Hence, it is possible to dispense with a separate puncturing aid for withdrawing blood, for example from a finger pulp, an ear lobe or any another area of skin of a subject.
In general, an analytic system can house a plurality of analytic aids, for example a plurality of microsamplers, in a fixedly integrated magazine or in various types of replaceable magazine. In principle, irrespective of the type of analytic aid, it is possible to distinguish between three main types of analytic magazines; to be precise, it is possible to distinguish between round magazines (for example in the shape of drums and/or disks), linear magazines (for example in the form of stacked magazines, zigzag magazines, or the like), and tape magazines, in which the analytic aid is arranged on a tape or another type of at least partly flexible support. In principle, these types of magazine may also be used or modified within the scope of the invention described below. In the prior art, round magazines are described in, for example, US 2006/0008389, US 2007/0292314, US 2006/0184064, US 2003/0212347, or US 2002/0087056. By way of example, linear magazines are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,924 or in US 2003/0191415. By way of example, tape magazines are disclosed in US 2002/0188224, in US 2008/0103415, in EP 1360935 A1, or in DE 19819407 A1.
Hence, in addition to separate magazines for lancets and test elements, which contain a test chemical, magazines are established within the scope of the above-described integration that hold both test elements and lancets, for example in the form of so-called combined disposables. These aids can be stored in the magazine in a desired quantity, and the magazine can be inserted into a corresponding instrument, which is also referred to as an analytic system in the following text. However, such designs generally lead to rather complex, large systems. Even the housing of test elements such as test fields and lancets on tape, for example within the scope of so-called “lancet-on-tape” systems, has the disadvantage that functionally relevant parts firstly have to be isolated during production and then have to be reapplied to a tape.
A further technical challenge of combined magazines, which store analytic aids comprising both lancets and test elements, more particularly with a test chemical, consists of the stringent requirements in respect of the biocompatibility of the analytic aid. In particular, the test chemical used in the test elements can comprise e.g. enzymes and/or other materials, e.g. auxiliary materials, that can lead to incompatibility when in direct contact with body tissue of a subject. Although such phenomena have not yet been examined in precise detail, it would for example be feasible that certain enzymes cause allergic reactions in the subject. Hence, even in the case of integrated systems and appropriate magazines for integrated systems, care has to be taken that, in addition to a simple and cost-effective production, the biocompatibility of such systems is always ensured.
Thus, by way of example, WO 2006/031920 A2 and WO 2005/065414 A2 each disclose systems and methods for taking a sample. In the process, a puncturing element in each case pierces a test element before the puncturing element penetrates an area of skin of a user. When the puncturing element is withdrawn, the sample adhering to the puncturing element is applied to the test element from the outside. However, a disadvantage in this case is that parts of the test chemical can already adhere to the puncturing element during the forward motion of said puncturing element, i.e. during the puncturing process, when the test element is pierced and hence this can lead to undesirable ingress of a test chemical into the body of the subject.
WO 01/64105 A1 similarly discloses a device for detecting an analyte and determining the amount thereof. In this device, provision is also made for a lancet to pierce a test field during a sample-taking procedure and wipe bodily fluid onto the test field from the outside when said lancet is retracted from the body tissue of the user. The above-described problems of possible ingress of a test chemical into the body tissue also occur in this arrangement.
Furthermore, a problem that frequently occurs in the aforementioned devices, and also in other known devices, is that the edges of the test fields in particular can tend to fall apart. By way of example, this can lead to components of the test chemical breaking off the edges of the test fields and reaching the lancet.